The present invention relates to a peak position detector for electrical signals.
In electrical signal processing there are many instances when it is important to be able to detect and accurately measure the exact position of a peak in an electrical signal. For example, a correlation process produces an output having a peak at a position related to the phase difference of its inputs.
Another application for an accurate peak position detector is in the area of image processing. For example, high precision, active range finding techniques used in robotic vision systems are principally based on the triangulation principle, with either a linear array of detectors or a bi-dimensional CCD detector (charge coupled device), i.e. a video camera, converting the optical data into electrical signals. See, for example, U.S. patent applications of M. Rioux Ser. No. 509,373 filed June 30, 1983, abandoned in favour of Ser. No. 819,477 and entitled "Three diminsional imaging device" now U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,734.